Question - East Timor's Troubles...???

I'm still having trouble trying to work out the situation in East Timor. We're led to believe there is this huge political division between East and West - but surely this doesn't come from nowhere - there has to have been a history of it to be this bloody now - but why have we never heard about it before.

We've also heard about possible peturbations from Indonesia - trying to unsettle the country. But what about Australia? I recall hearing at one point that Alkatiri was considering a socialist state which would have pissed off our incumbent government no end - particularly after all the hand waving RE: the oil and gas rights in the Timor Sea.

So, it has me wondering - who has the most to gain out of this? Indonesia - yes, as an unsettled country makes it a target for "resettlement" so that law and order can be reimposed. But I think Australia has more to gain. If it can swing in a more sympathetic government, it could:

• Water down the Timor Sea treaty
• Knock any idea of becoming a socialist state into touch - nothing could be worse than having a marxist government on your doorstep (akin to Venezuela) who wants to look after their citizens before it looks after the interests of capital.

Which makes this article all the more interesting. Make you wonder ....